Stories from the Library – what's new and what's happening
In a remarkable team effort, the University Archives recently completed installation of a memorial corner dedicated to our late founding president, Prof. Chia-Wei Woo. Did you know that it was Prof. Woo’s vision back in 1990 to establish a university archive for preserving historically significant materials relating to our university? This memorial corner could not…
I was sad to hear the news. He will be missed. I want to share a couple of anecdotes – two of my encounters with him in the early days of the University. I was a very junior staff and only ever knew the President casually, but he knew who I was and always had…
Being a recent recipient of our university’s Doctor of Humanities honoris causa, Tony Leung Chiu Wai (梁朝偉)’s artistry has reached global cinema for decades. Do you know that our library also holds several of his notable films? From his early works in the 1980s to his martial arts tour de force in “The Grandmaster” (2013),…
You might have heard the Italian name Ricci – perhaps Ricci Hall, one of the oldest residential halls at HKU. But do you know who Matteo Ricci was? The man who made this Italian name famous in China. Who was Matteo Ricci? Matteo Ricci (1552-1610) was one of the first Jesuit missionaries who tried to…
As ChatGPT celebrates its second birthday, we thought it was a good time to showcase our comprehensive collection of AI-related books that capture this transformative moment in history. Introducing our new book display: “Popular Readings on AI”—a curated selection of around 380 books, available in both print and e-format. From the latest in technology and…
Did you know this is one of the most glamorous items in our Special Collections? Known as 坤輿萬國全圖, in elegant classical Chinese, literally meaning Map of the Ten Thousand Countries of the Earth, it also has a nickname in English – Ricci Map. Why Ricci in English? Why does this map, titled in Chinese, carry…
Part 1 discussed how students can fight monsters of anxiety about grades & GPA by laughing and learning with the Wisdom Stone Game. But, some carry around other fears. Since childhood, we’ve become familiar with the idea or cliché of corpses and skeletons coming to life. Others may fear living creatures like spiders or snakes….
HongKongers live in a fast-paced world of abbreviations. I just realize my office life is full of CCs. First of all, when battling with email traffic, cc and bcc come in handy. For Gen Z readers, cc/bcc emails are modern derivatives of carbon copy and blind carbon copy which thrived in the age of typewriters….
Another good read (author I’m fond of) is Marge Piercy. Like Ursula LeGuin, she also writes both poetry and prose. I came to her poetry, after enjoying her novels. Most of her novels are set in the contemporary world when they were published, such as, Small Changes, but some in the historic past, like Gone…
One of our Library staff colleagues has some skill in repairing books. Others asked them to host a workshop so more staff could learn these skills. They used a variety of tools and techniques to show how to fix different problems with worn or damaged books. Despite the Library’s collections moving more and more towards…
